Touch
by impureevilregal
Summary: Or, how a nine year old Naruto stole Ibiki's job.
1. Chapter 1

_Can I clear my conscience  
If I'm different from the rest?  
Do I have to run and hide? (oh, oh, oh, oh)  
I never said that I want this,  
This burden came to me,  
And it's made its home inside (oh, oh, oh, oh)_

 _**-Imagine Dragons, Monster**_

She was a monster.

No one ever said so directly to her face, but Umiko never really saw how she could be anything besides a monster. And the terror in their eyes as she walked by them in the street, the grimace on her Jonin Sensei's face whenever he had to touch her, it was all just confirmation of the truth she had known since before she could walk.

Umiko Saito was a monster.

She didn't look all that monstrous, but all of the best monsters came in pretty wrappings. With her lithe form and pretty grey eyes. Her clear, unblemished, pale skin and her raven tresses. If she could ever touch something properly, she would have been sent on seduction missions. But, as she couldn't, too much of a demon creature, a freak of nature, to ever be able to feel another living being without causing every single nerve in their body to fire, sending pain signals through their every cell, that whole train of thought was rather irrelevant.

It was supposed to be a gift. When the village council had first discovered that she could manipulate pain, they were overjoyed. She was set up with riches and relics and everything any reasonable person could ever possibly want. For Umiko, orphaned in the Third war, it was heaven. Only, when she was treated like that, it was because they thought that she was going to be able to control it.

She couldn't. It only got worse and worse until even touching her own body with her hands sent that very same pain all through her, causing her to fall on the ground writhing in agony several times a day. Gloves didn't help much, not that it would have mattered even if they did.

She was a monster.

Which was why she took all of the so-called impossible missions. The suicide missions. A-ranks and S-ranked, infiltrating the nations no sane Iwa Nin would ever dream of going. And succeeding. Because, no matter how long or how often you felt the pain she produced, it would never, ever, lessen. It was a nearly invincible bloodline. One that she was glad that she would never have the chance to pass on.

Only now, she had finally been captured. And, even as she sat in the complete silence, and complete deprivation of any senses, with it too dark to see and sound-proofed so she couldn't even hear the sound of her own voice, she didn't really mind it all that bad. Any pain they could possibly inflict on her had already been accidentally caused to her ten times worse by her own hand.

Loneliness was a perpetual state for her. Really, she was already _too_ broken to be much use to them. They would have better luck trying to piece her carefully back together than they would finding anything of use in the ground up glass dust inside her human shell. Their little tricks and games wouldn't work on her, and really, Umiko wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Being so much of a monster that even those souls most regarded as monsters by the outside world couldn't understand what needed to be done to get her to speak. Even when the woman with the purple hair and the snakes (she had been rather thoroughly introduced to several of them, and their specific fang sizes) ran a kunai through her side, promising that if she didn't talk that it would be her face next she simply gave her a cool smile and replied "I'll hold you to it then. Go on, make me bleed."

And the woman, Anko, did. She seemed to enjoy doing so, as Umiko's perfect porcelain doll face was forever stripped of it's glory. It was, most likely, wrong, for her to feel so satisfied by the fact that she looked the part of the monster just a bit more. And, really, if her right eye would no longer work, and she would forever have mobility problems… Well, as all the civilian girls seemed to say "Beauty hurts."

When she eventually left and the silent medic once again partially healed you, enough that she was still in horrible pain but wouldn't bleed to death sitting in her cell. They had long since given up on the sensory deprivation technique, and starvation wasn't working all that well either. Back when she was younger, before her curse was even a possibility and she was just another street rat going entire weeks without food was her normal, and her body had never really forgotten how to cope with the hunger gnawing a hole into her stomach.

The next day, a new man came in. She even recognized him, having been drilled on the important people in enemy villages. Ibiki Morino, the most feared Interrogator alive. She almost felt special, knowing that she warranted his personal attention. That all three of the other interrogators in the several months she's been stuck in this hell failed.

"Aww, you came to see me yourself? I feel so special" she said in a sweet voice. Admittedly, it wasn't that different from her regular voice, all light and airy and oh so deceptively pleasant. Like the sweet scent of a poisonous plant, she was torture in a pretty package.

"Cut the crap. Why, exactly, did Iwa send you to Konoha" he asked, his voice devoid of emotion despite the fact that he was radiating killer intent. She was very nearly impressed, really, at his display in stoicism.

"Well, it's a rather long story" she began, and he lunged for her before she could shield him, her bare skin hitting his arm. To his credit, he didn't scream like even the Tsuchikage had when her hand had brushed on his while she was taking her mission scroll. He didn't fall or writhe, but she could still see him shudder and she knew that he had felt it.

She quickly flinched away, and felt the guilt take over again. She could handle hurting herself, but there was a reason why she hadn't really wanted to be a shinobi. Even sitting here, being interrogated, she apologized for causing him pain.

"I'm sorry" she whimpered, breathing just as heavily as he was. "I'm… You should stay away. Don't you see… I'm poison" she whispered, tears threatening to well up in her eyes. She quickly steeled herself, because even if this wasn't her ideal career path she was a kunoichi and damnit she was going to act like one.

He paid no heed to her little meltdown, and instead asked "how? Your chakra is blocked, none of your jutsus should be able to function."

"It's not a jutsu" she decided to say, because really, her own abilities had nothing to do with the mission. "I can't touch any living creature without every single nerve in their body sending pain signals. Hell, I can't even touch myself. You villages may have your Jinchuuriki, but Iwa doesn't need one of them, we make our own monsters."

He somehow managed to ignore the pain long enough to handcuff her to the table. She sat there, wondering what would come next. How would they try to hurt her now that they knew that she would hit back whether they liked it or not. Whether she herself liked it or not.

To her surprise, he returned with a young boy, around the age of 8 or 9, with blonde hair and whiskers on his cheeks. He ran up to her and gave her a hug, and she was about to do everything she could to stop him and make sure he released without feeling pain, but, to her surprise, he didn't scream. He didn't do anything at all.

"You're not hurt? You… You don't feel pain" she whispered in awe, and he hopped away and nodded eagerly.

"Of course not, why would I? It's just a hug, dattebayo!"

Tears welled up in her eyes again, and Umiko made no move to stop them this time. "You know what, fine. Let me hold him, and I'll tell you everything I know."

For the first time she could remember, she could _touch_ someone. All at once, her heart seemed just a bit less broken.

Loyalty to her village paled in comparison to this gift that had been provided to her.

* * *

So, I was reading Naruto fanfictions while watching X-men, and I had the idea of a Rogue-like character discovering someone that she could touch without fear of hurting them, and, well, this was the result. Hope you all enjoyed it, with the characters I don't own (Besides Umiko, but she was inspired by X-men, so, does it really count?).


	2. Chapter 2

_If I told you what I was,  
Would you turn your back on me?  
And if I seem dangerous,  
Would you be scared?  
I get the feeling just because  
Everything I touch isn't dark enough  
That this problem lies in me_

"Okay, you're going to talk. Then, get talking" her interrogator said, even as she ran her fingers through the small boy's blonde hair, her breathing heavy and tears in her eyes at just how impossible it all was. She never thought that she would be able to simply hug and cuddle up to someone without every single nerve in their body sparking alight and burning them alive.

"What do you want to know" she asked, not even sure where to begin, with how many missions she had done, and how many people had their bodies burned because of her. It was her curse, after all, and she had made sure to get the full measure of its abilities out of it. She had made sure to make even the smallest genin scream when she saved them, because, enemies or not, they were children and didn't deserve to die.

"Your current mission. Why were you sent to Konoha" Ibiki asked, and she smirked. Of course he would care most about her current mission, a practically insignificant one compared to all of her previous ones, because he didn't yet know that. But, he would soon. Soon, he would know everything, and she could not bring herself to feel the least bit sorry for her actions, because she was Iwa's monster. It was only fitting that she was the one to destroy Iwa. Or at least aid it the destruction.

If she had known before that Konoha had someone she could safely be around, then she would have defected a long, _long,_ time ago. But, as it was, better late than never. "One of your clans took a summoning contract from Iwa, and they want it back. So, I volunteered, being the only one insane enough to come anywhere near Konoha willingly" she said with a shrug, caressing the boy's cheek. He twitched when she pet his whiskers, and seemed a bit disturbed by it, but not too badly. It seemed more to be the type of disturbed that came from being touched none too gently.

She didn't like it, but she said nothing to him as Morino asked another question. "Which summoning contract, and which clan" because the interrogation itself was far more important. "And for that matter, why would they risk a talented shinobi when there are easier methods to go about procuring a stolen object?"

"The Namikaze clan took the fox summoning contract. As for why Iwa wants it back so badly… Well, it's to spite the Yondaime more than anything. They still hold a rather large grudge against him" she added the last part in a conspiratorial whisper, like it was a big joke. "They send me because they're afraid of me. They'd be upset to lose me, yes, but that doesn't mean that they actually want me around. They wouldn't have to deal with an upset clan or grieving family members or friends or anyone else when I finally got captured. When I finally died. I'm talented, yes, but even more expendable than most."

It was then that Umiko noticed how similar the boy she was holding looked to the Yondaime was supposed to. He was said to have been the last of his clan, but the resemblance was too similar for them to be anything but kin. Not that she would say anything about that, either, of course. After all she wasn't a jonin because of a lack of a filter.

"What other missions involving Konoha have you been on" he asked, his voice still emotionless as she began holding the boy even closer, until he suddenly jumped away and stood up, before looking at her closely, and then at Morino.

"Why are you hugging me so much, Dattebayo? It's really weird" he added the last without the least bit of shame or thought of how most people wouldn't like to be called weird. It was so blunt and childlike that it was amusing as she shrugged and gave him a small smile, before focusing her attention back on Ibiki.

He didn't like that much, because he began talking again "Why are you all scratched up? And why did the scary torture guy, ask for me to help him?"

"I'm a bit curious about the second question myself, really" Umiko admitted. "But, as for the first, I wasn't being very cooperative, so they got a bit… Upset, with me" he looked horrified and she quickly added "but, I'll be okay. It doesn't hurt _that_ much. Don't worry."

"Uzumaki-Kun has a unique ability that gives him a resistance to your abilities, and it seemed to be the most easy way to get you to cooperate. Now, answer the question" he added the last bit with a growl that was supposed to be intimidating, but didn't succeed in the slightest. She was used to even the most fearsome of shinobi running from her, and that wasn't likely to change anytime soon.

"I have been on" she quickly counted up missions in her head, "19 missions here now. Most for tasks similar to the summoning scroll, but there were also a few more… Interesting ones, you could say" she smirks again when she says that last bit, not because it's particularly worthy of a smirk, but rather at the knowledge that she had taken secrets from the most impenetrable of the hidden villages.

"Tell me about your first mission" he orders her, and so she does, detailing every bit of the adventure, ending with her framing a Taki nin, resulting in the current tension between the two hidden villages. She had been rather proud of that at the time. She still was proud of it, really, and she deserved to be.

She continues going through the missions, ending with her prior Konoha mission, where she managed to find the identities of several members of their ANBU forces, much to the pleasure of the Tsuchikage at the time. "And that concludes everything I've ever done to Konoha directly" she finished with a rather large grin.

"Thank you for your cooperation" Morino said stiffly as she squeezed the boy's hand one final time before she was led back to her cell. It was all dark and shadowy, and her wounds were once again bleeding freely.

She didn't particularly care though, she was too engrossed in the memory of what had just happened. On the feeling of knowing that she didn't destroy everything she touched. She was still a monster. She would still always be a monster, and that wasn't likely to change any time soon. But, perhaps she wasn't quite as bad as she had thought she was.

* * *

 **So, when I said that it was going to be a oneshot, I apparently lied. Still, hope you enjoyed this unexpected second chapter. I'm still on the fence about whether to turn it into a true multichapter fic or not, so if you have a particular opinion towards whether or not I should continue this, feel free to give me some input!**


End file.
